Reproductive freedom in the UK.

Reproductive freedom is one of the fundamental feminist issues. Central to any notion of such freedom is access to abortion. In the US, abortion is a warzone where pro-choicers battle it out with anti-choicers, sometimes literally. Just recently, in Buffalo, anti-abortion activist and fundamentalist christian James Kopp was sentenced to 25 years to life for the murder of abortion provider Dr Barnett Slepian in 1998, after a manhunt across America and Europe.

In the UK, abortion-related shootings are unthinkable; sure, there are anti-abortion groups, but abortion is legal, an overwhelming majority in every poll ever conducted supports it, there’s nothing to get worked up about. Right?

Since first getting involved with the pro-choice movement over a decade ago, I’ve been perpetually bemused by the complacency surrounding the issue. It seems people are mostly oblivious to it until they or their partner or friend has to actually obtain an abortion; and subsequently, they don’t talk about it. A surprising number of people don’t know that women still have to

get the signatures of two doctors to allow them to have a termination.

Abortion on request is still a long way off. It’s a doctor’s decision, not

the woman’s, whether she will be allowed to have the procedure, and their

decision relies on an assessment of the patient’s mental health: in order to

obtain an abortion, you have to say that you are not mentally able to cope

with continuing the pregnancy. You can’t simply decide you don’t want the

pregnancy, you have to cast doubt on your own mental health.

On top of this, in many places in Britain it can be very hard to get an NHS

abortion – provision is wildly unequal in different areas – while a private

abortion costs £400 and up. Why should women be forced to pay for a medical

procedure? Doctors who are actively hostile to abortion don’t have to

declare their position, and can be obstructive. In Ireland, it’s still

illegal; women, often very young women (access to sex education and

contraception is still problematic over there, too), have to travel to